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Voting/Update Transcript
Transcript Text reads: The Mysteries of Life with Nat and Moby. Moby fills out a ballot to decide what the cafeteria should serve for lunch. He ignores choices for pizza, peanut butter and jelly, and turkey, and chooses "other." He put his vote in the ballot box. A student comes to count the votes; he turns the ballot box upside down and only one vote falls out. The scene changes to the cafeteria. Nat is standing in line behind Moby. A sign reads, "Today’s special: voted on by you!" MOBY: Beep! The lunch lady serves Moby a big helping of computer parts and wires. NAT: This is what won the lunch vote? The lunch lady tops off Moby’s plate with a spray of WD-40. MOBY: Beep. NAT: Well, I didn't vote; I just assumed pizza would win... Nat reads from a typed letter. NAT: Dear Nat and Moby, I always hear how voting is super important, but why? And how does it work? Thanks, Cayla & Sadie. Voting is a way for groups of people to make decisions fairly. Everyone gets to pick the option they want. And the choice that gets the most votes wins. Animation shows a crowd under two neon signs. One sign reads, Plan A. The other sign reads, Plan B. As each sign lights up, members in the crowd raise a hand to vote for the plan they prefer. NAT: You’ve probably voted for something before: Maybe a team captain, or what movie to see with your friends. A split screen shows a girl being lifted in the air by her teammates. The other screen shows two people in a movie theater, looking at the options on the Now Showing marquee. NAT: But when you hear about voting in the news, it's usually about our government. The United States is a democracy. It comes from an Ancient Greek word meaning "people power." The image of the crowd reappears, and the neon signs are switched out for an image of the Capitol Building. At this, everyone in the crowd raises a fist in support. Text appears on the screen, reading: Demos = People. Kronos = Power. NAT: In democracies, citizens have a say in how their country is run. MOBY: Beep. Moby crosses his arms and rolls his eyes. NAT: Yeah, that might seem like a given now. But in 1776, when America was established, it was a radical setup. Most other nations were ruled by kings or queens. The image shows a map of America with the 13 Colonies highlighted and labeled. A flag with raised fists is planted in the state of Virginia. The animation switches to show a map of Europe. A variety of crowns are stamped onto the map in different countries. NAT: No major state had tried democracy for close to 2,000 years! MOBY: Beep? NAT: One of the world's first democracies was Ancient Athens. Citizens would gather at a special place to debate the major issues facing the city. The animation shows a scene from Ancient Greece. Townspeople in togas are gathered together talking. Two men are standing on a raised platform. NAT: Like whether to collect a new tax, or make peace with some neighboring city. And when it came time to make a decision, they'd all get to vote. This is called a direct democracy, because citizens vote directly on laws. The scene changes to show a line of citizens, each holding a stone in his hand. Two urns rest on a marble table underneath a sign that reads, Vote Here. One urn is labeled with a thumbs up and the other with a thumbs down. Citizens toss their stone into one of the urns to cast a vote. NAT: Of course back then, only free males could qualify to be a citizen. No women and no slaves allowed. The animation goes down the line of voting citizens. They are all white men. At the end of the line, there is a sign with two images crossed out: a woman, and a shackled hand. NAT: A bit later on, the Romans came along. They were big admirers of Greek culture and democracy. The animation shows a bustling town in Ancient Rome. NAT: But Rome had conquered a lot of different places... including Greece! There were millions of citizens, and thousands of decisions to make every year. It wasn't exactly convenient for everyone to gather around and debate every issue. An image shows a map of Europe and Northern Africa. A sword thrusts into the map, highlighting all the territories that the Romans had conquered. Small icons of people form in clusters on the map. Each cluster of people is a different color. NAT: So instead of a direct democracy, Rome set up a republic. Citizens would vote on senators to represent them in government. And those guys would vote on specific laws. The image shows the people icons rearranged into a circle. One icon from each color moves to the center of the circle. The scene shifts to an image of the Roman Senate. Senators fill the tiered benches. One man is on the floor, speaking to the group. NAT: But just like Greece, Roman citizenship was confined to free men only. The image of the Roman Senate zooms out to show that a woman is looking on. It also reveals the same sign from Ancient Athens, with the images of a woman and a shackled hand crossed out. MOBY: Beep. NAT: Well, the Roman Republic didn't really work out. The senate kept getting weaker, while the emperor grew more powerful, until it was a republic in name only. The animation returns to the Roman Senate. A Roman Emperor replaces the man speaking on the floor. He raises his sword. NAT: For a couple thousand years after that, everyone figured, you know, maybe this democracy thing isn't such a swell idea. An image shows the ruins of the Roman Senate building, with crumbling columns and stone benches. NAT: Until the late 1700s. That's when some hotheads led by George Washington decided to give it another go. America was already pretty big, so they went for Rome's republic model. Citizens would vote on politicians to represent them in government. The animation shows the Roman Senate ruins transforming into a drawing on a board. Several colonial Americans are gathered around the board. One of them flips the board, revealing a diagram of the Capitol Building with symbols for the Senate and the House of Representatives on either side. NAT: And because old habits die hard, this was kind of a "white men only" situation. MOBY: Beep. Moby frowns. NAT: It took nearly 200 years for every adult American to win the right to vote. The animation shows colonial white men lined up to vote. A sign reads, "Vote Here." NAT: Women got it in 1920. The scene updates: the line now includes both men and women. NAT: And it wasn't until the 1960s that African Americans could safely vote in every state. The scene updates again: the line now includes black men and women along with white men and women. MOBY: Beep. NAT: As the makeup of the voting public changed, so did our representatives. They began to look just a little bit more like the rest of the country. A black and white image shows what government used to look like before the voting laws changed: white men only. The image transforms to color and changes to include women and people of color. NAT: And to pass legislation that would benefit a broader range of Americans. That's why voting isn't just a right for American citizens. It's a responsibility! Representatives should, you know, represent all of the people. Because their decisions affect everyone. They set our taxes, control our natural resources, and say what's legal and what isn't. They choose whether the country goes to war, and who fights it. Citizens make one big decision: picking the people who make those choices. Any American citizen 18 or older can participate. Which means there are almost 250 million eligible voters. An image shows the full map of the United States. Icons of people populate the map. NAT: But even in a good year, only about half of them turn out to vote. An animation shows half of the icons disappearing from the map. MOBY: Beep? NAT: Yeah, voter turnout is highest for presidential elections, every four years. An image shows a chart. Each space in the chart is labeled with a year. The years range from 2016 to 2025. A stamp of the White House appears in each year of a presidential election: 2016, 2020, and 2024. NAT: That makes sense, because Presidents wield a huge amount of power. They enforce laws, direct foreign policy, and serve as commander-in-chief of our military. Presidents really set the tone and agenda for the entire government. The image of the White House takes up the entire screen. NAT: But national elections actually take place every two years. The image of the chart returns. This time, a stamp of the Capitol Building appears in each year of a congressional election: 2016, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2024. NAT: Citizens vote on the representatives and senators who make up Congress. Congress writes our nation's laws, which can support or block stuff the President wants to do. That means voting in congressional races is super important! An image of a scale appears. On one end is the Capitol Building; on the other end is the White House. NAT: State and local elections have a huge impact on people's lives, too. The image of the chart returns. A state capitol building appears in every year from 2016 to 2025. NAT: Those officials decide on stuff like schools, construction, and transportation. The screen splits to show three images: a brick schoolhouse; two construction workers repairing a road; and a bus driving down the street. MOBY: Beep! NAT: Yup, simply voting isn't enough; you need to know what you're voting for. Democracy only works when voters educate themselves about the issues. You need to consider how the candidates, the people running for office, would vote on those issues. An image shows a woman reading a newspaper called "Brainpop Times." She flips the page to a section that reads, "Meet the Candidates!" The animation zooms in to show three candidates: Olivia Fair for Democrat, Fred Justice for Republican, and Ben Sovereign for Independent. NAT: Their political party can give you some idea of that. Each party stands for a set of core beliefs about how to run the government. Candidates will explain where they personally stand in speeches and on their websites. An animation shows one candidate on stage at a podium. She is speaking before a crowd and calling on people to ask questions. MOBY: Beep! NAT: Most elections happen on Election Day. It falls on the first Tuesday in November, as long as it's not November 1st. An image shows the month of November on a calendar. A red pen circles the first Tuesday, November 6. NAT: Voters heads to their polling places to cast their votes. Some sites have electronic voting: voters touch a screen or push a button. An animation shows a finger pressing an electronic screen. NAT: At other places, they might fill out cards that get fed into a scanner. An animation shows a woman feeding her voting card into a scanner. NAT: And a few still issue paper ballots that get counted by hand. An animation shows hands placing paper ballots into a box. NAT: Whichever method a polling place uses, voters have the right to privacy. No one is supposed to see who anyone else is voting for. An animation shows a man and a woman in separate voting booths. They both close the curtains. The man pops his head back out and looks around suspiciously. NAT: That way, everyone can vote for what they believe, even if it's, uh... super weird. Nat glances at Moby's plate. MOBY: Beep? Moby offers Nat a generous helping of computer parts, dripping in WD-40. NAT: I really shouldn't… I'm trying to cut down. Category:BrainPOP Transcripts Category:BrainPOP Social Studies Transcripts